As the summer sun starts
to heat up in Seattle ,
I've been wondering what
sort of environmentally
sound sunscreen options
are out there to protect
my pale, pale flesh from
certain scorching.
I considered writing to
Umbra under a
pseudonym to get an
answer, but the
Environmental Working
Group jumped on the
subject before I could
with their
new guide to both
the efficacy and the
environmental health
cred of more than 780
different sunscreens.
Sweet.
In their database,
sunscreens are scored
according to their
effectiveness at
blocking UVA and UVB
rays, as well as by the
amount of ingredients
they include that have
been linked to health
concerns like cancers,
developmental and
reproductive toxicity,
allergens, persistence,
and bioaccumulation.
They actually break it
down by the amount of
each potentially
hazardous substance,
giving them a score
between one and 10 (one
being the best, 10 being
the worst) in each
category, as well as an
overall score.
Eighty-four percent of
the sunscreens they
looked at offer
inadequate protection
from the sun, or contain
ingredients with
significant safety
concerns, meaning only
16 percent of the
products on the market
are both safe and
effective.
You can search the
database by your
specific sunscreen
needs/desires, by the
highest or lowest
rankings, or by locating
the ones you already own
and checking out their
stats. The EWG database
even hooks you up with
information about where
you can buy these
sunscreens.
